The Case Of The Living Doll

Chapter 1

On the outskirts of London there stood an abandoned building. It had been closed down for several years and was now desolate. The whole place screamed haunted and take caution when stepping through here. Not that anyone in their right minds would even dream of coming close to the place.

Even though I say that, at this very moment there were two people exploring the very place that other people wouldn't dare to enter and if you ask me they were far from being sane.

They were of course the young earl Ciel and his demon butler Sebastian.

There had been several rumors about the building and none of them were very pleasant.

Several people had said that screams could be heard coming from within the building, resonating throughout the nearby streets and other horrific noises sounded from there also. Squelching, sawing and even footsteps.

The thing was no one had been seen entering or leaving the building in what seemed to be years. The place was completely abandoned.

The building had once been a factory, one that manufactured dolls of all shapes and sizes.

There were more rumors that surrounded the place and they were that the dolls, who appeared lifeless at first, had more life to them when you looked closely at them, they were almost human. It wasn't only that: there were also rumors of the dolls coming alive at night and were seen wandering about the house, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

And now here Ciel and Sebastian were in this very building under direct orders from the queen, they were supposed to investigate the place and see if there was some truth to the rumors and at the moment everything seemed quite normal about the place, at first glance anyway.

Once Ciel's eyes, or eye, had adjusted to the darkness he took a closer look at the room and his eyes came to a stop on the lone table in the middle of the seemingly empty room. On top of the table sat a single doll. The doll had porcelain skin that felt real to the touch, flowing (h/c) hair and half-closed (e/c) eyes.

"That's strange." Ciel strolled over to the doll and peered closer at her face, "it seems almost life-like."

"Yes, it's like she'll start speaking at any moment." Sebastian also looked at the doll and ran a gloved finger down her face. He drew his finger back and he glanced at her face.

Weird, it had seemed as though the doll had flinched when he touched her. But that couldn't be possible.

Was it true that these dolls were once human?

Several years ago there had been talk of girls who were on the brink of death going missing, or beautiful girls disappearing from their homes in the middle of the night.

Perhaps this doll was one of those missing girls?

Anything was possible.

"Should we take her with us? Maybe someone could tell us whether she was alive once or not?" Ciel half-asked Sebastian, he was mostly talking to himself though.

"I know who would be the perfect person to ask young master." Sebastian smirked and held the girl/doll bridal style.

"You're not talking about him are you?" Groaned Ciel.

"Indeed I am." Chuckled the demon butler.

~~~At the Undertaker's shop ~~~

"Undertaker are you here?" Ciel knocked on the door of the Undertaker's funeral home and without waiting for a reply waltzed into the room.

Coffins and more coffins filled up the empty space and specimen jars were lined up against the walls.

The young earl shivered at the sight and ordered Sebastian to place the doll on top of one of the many coffins. It's not like the girl/doll would mind right?

Ciel jumped slightly when he heard someone stumble behind him. Spinning on his heel, he saw a certain grey-haired male slumped across his desk, as though he had just fallen over and landed on top of it.

Undertaker was certainly a weird one and Ciel had seen plenty of weird things in his short lifetime.

"Oh if it isn't the earl and his butler." Undertaker grinned an amused grin and pulled out a jar of what looked like dog bones. "And what would you like from me today? A coffin? Do you need me to measure you for one?" He laughed manically to himself. He abruptly stopped when he saw the doll sitting atop one of his coffins.

He bounced over to her and examined every inch of her body.

"And what is this precious thing?" He grinned while still inspecting her, "She's simply marvelous."

"We found the doll in the abandoned building outside of town." Ciel reluctantly answered, "have you heard the rumors about the old wax doll factory?"

"I have indeed." Undertaker wrapped an arm round the doll's waist and spun her round on the spot. He twirled a strand of hair round his finger and snuggled his cheek against her soft skin. "She certainly does seem human doesn't she? It's almost as if she's alive. Or once was." He felt the doll shiver at his touch and he smirked.

"We would like for you to keep her here for a few days and examine her. Perhaps you'll find something from her." Ciel picked up his cane and made for the door, "I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out."

"Just leave it to me." Undertaker grinned once again and sat the doll back atop the coffin.

After the earl and his butler had left, Undertaker turned back to the doll and sat next to her.

"You can hear me right?" Undertaker took a strand of her hair and bought it up to his lips. He pecked it lightly and let it rest against her shoulder once more. Anybody who was looking closely at the doll, might have been able to see the slight blush that was now dusting her cheeks.

That wouldn't be possible if she was really a doll, now would it?

Undertaker might be seen as someone who only knows how to play around and be a little insane, or maybe he was a whole lot of insane, but he wasn't stupid.

He knew from just one look at the doll, that she wasn't just that. She was human, or partly human and she was very much alive.

It was now up to him to find out exactly how such a thing had happened and how to undo what ever this doll-like state was.

Chapter 2

A bell sounded as the Undertaker excitedly ran into his shop, a single hairpin in his hand. As usual all was quiet in the funeral home, although it wasn't just any silence: it was more eerie.

As expected of a place that had nothing but coffins placed in it, nothing stirred and all seemed to be almost normal, that was until your eyes would come to rest on one thing that stood out.

The life-like doll.

Just like she was the day before, she was still sat upon the very same coffin and hadn't moved an inch. Not that she could, even if she wanted to.

Undertaker being Undertaker, didn't want to move her. He wanted to leave her out in the open for everyone to see. Seeing their reactions would be interesting indeed and hilarious.

The silver-haired man did like a good joke after all.

After taking off his outdoor jacket, he sat next to the doll and turned to face her.

She really was a sight to behold. Porcelain skin, (e/c) eyes that anyone could get lost in and small lips that seemed almost tempting.

"Oh little dolly you're just as beautiful today as you were yesterday." He laughed into his sleeve and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with the other hand.

He picked up the hairpin that he had placed down just before taking of his jacket and turned her slightly so he could braid her hair, after putting it in a bun, he held it in place with the hairpin.

The hairpin was just as beautiful as the girl it now belonged to. Small, black roses were intricately woven around a red stone. It matched her (h/c) hair perfectly.

"I was right it does suit you." He chuckled and didn't fail to notice the blush that had risen to her cheeks.

Now he was definitely sure that she wasn't just an ordinary doll. Not that anyone would describe this girl as ordinary, mind you. This girl was definitely human, or had once been one.

Just how any why had she become a doll?

The Undertaker was just itching to find out and that was exactly what he was going to do now.

He stood up and picked up the 'doll' bridal style, then he carried her to his desk. He gently laid her down on it and preceded to take out his death scythe. All he needed to do was make the tiniest of cuts, not enough to accidentally send her soul to the afterlife.

For anyone else it might've been an impossible feat, but seeing as he owned a funeral home, it wouldn't be too difficult for the Undertaker.

He lifted his death scythe and bought it down on her.

That was when something quite like film reels shot out of her body, weaving themselves around Undertaker and filling his vision with nothing but her memories.

Chapter 3

Soft music swirled around the room, almost erasing the sounds of laughter, clinking of glasses and the shuffling of feet that filled the room. As far as the eye could see people were dancing happily, eating their fill of rich and tasty delicacies and just enjoying the party.

The smell of perfume and joy mixed together and created a smell that lingered in the air. Among the people that were swarming about were two people who looked the happiest. These two people were a girl, who looked no older than 18 and a young man who looked a couple years older than her and a few moments later Undertaker knew that this was their engagement party.

Off to the side there stood a man who stood apart from the rest. At first glance you would think he seemed uninterested, but if you looked closely you would see the green-eyed monster hidden behind those brown eyes of his, swirling with envy and malice.

Now you might think that this is going to be your typical story of a man meeting a girl, but she's already promised to someone else and the lovesick man would do anything to keep the sworn lovers apart. However he took it a lot further and made sure they would never lay his on each other again.

Later that evening, as the air outside cooled and the owl began to begin it's nighttime serenade of hoots, there was a single man clutching a knife in his hand and a burning jealousy in his wretched heart, as he made his way to the manor that housed his love and her fiance.

All was quiet in the manor, as it was quite clear that nothing, or no one, was awake in the manor. Nothing stirred and nothing was amiss.

That was unless you saw the very man who was now seething with anger and the hand clutching his weapon shook even more. He didn't even think, he didn't even worry about making a sound, or that anybody who looked out of their windows at this very moment would see what he was about to do.

He just acted on impulse as he grabbed a nearby rock and lobbed it at a downstairs window, causing the glass to shatter and rain down on the ground before his feet.

A light flickered on in a room upstairs, which he assumed was the very room the girl he loved and her hateful fiance slept.

He climbed through the now broken window, not caring if he got cut by the jagged pieces of glass and made his way through the house, until he came to a stop outside of the room, the room that his beloved was in.

Soft footsteps could be heard as someone made their way to the door, clearly to investigate what all the ruckus was and as the door opened, revealing a tall, handsome man: just this alone made the monster within him to roar louder and without another foot he plunged the knife into the other mans heart.

All the while the girl behind him was too shocked to do anything, so she just stood next to the bed and wept as soon as she saw the knife enter the heart of the man she loved.

But when the murderer had pulled the knife out of the mans body, so he could stab him again and again, a gaping hole could be seen. Blood poured out of the wound and pooled at their feet. The smell filled the room and filled their nostrils.

The girl gagged and ran to her fiance, kneeling beside him she held him in her arms: not caring that her once white nightgown was now dyed a deep red. A deep blood red.

Blinded with his rage and jealously, the man didn't notice that the girl he would kill for was now embracing her beloved and was somewhat shielding him with her body.

Blow after blow, stab after stab, slash after slash. His knife didn't stop, it didn't falter. Not until he was satisfied.

Once he had calmed down, he looked at the site before him and his eyes widened in shock and sorrow.

The girl who had been shielding her fiance, had slashes here and there on her once blemish-free skin and she was losing a lot of a blood and fast.

Her eyes swam and she became dizzy. Losing consciousness was something very near.

The man couldn't believe his eyes. No he didn't want to believe it.

Consumed by grief and a new found rage, he roughly grabbed the girl by the arm and dragged her out of the blood-soaked room, down the stairs and out into the street.

He felt her drop to the ground and it was plain to see that the girl had now lost consciousness.

Tears slipped down his face as he gingerly picked her up and took her to the one person who he knew could help her.

A person who could revive the dead, or near dead and turn them into something that was less than human.